European Greens on SYRIZA win: 'We want to cooperate with the new Greek government'

January 26, 2015 -- European Green Party -- The following statement on the victory by SYRIZA in the January 25 Greek election was issued by Monica Frassoni and Reinhard Bütikofer, co-chairs of the European Green Party.

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By
handing Syriza a decisive victory, Greek voters have clearly opted for
basic change in their country. We congratulate Syriza on their victory
and express our hope that they will make the best possible use of the
mandate they have received.

Greece needs change and together
with our Greek Green friends, the European Green Party has advocated
such change for a long time. The austerity policy which has unfairly
burdened the average Greek citizen and in particular the most vulnerable
parts of the population must be abandoned. Greece needs a better social
balance on its way out of the crisis. The public debt burden, which has
piled up as policies applied by previous governments, failed to deliver
a real economic turn-around and has long risen to a level that is
unsustainable. Therefore, in the medium term, there has to be a
negotiated agreement between Greece and its creditors on debt
alleviation. Thirdly, Greece still needs reforms – in particular the
type of reforms that facilitate a transition of the Greek economy
towards a sustainable future. This includes both Green investment with a
focus on SMEs and the guarantee of social standards and social
inclusion.

Syriza has indicated that it does not want to leave
the Eurozone and wants to find a common approach to Greek problems with
its European partners. We agree with that. Europe has heard the Greek
people speak loud and clear. European institutions and member states
must now look for a cooperative approach from their side.

The
EGP also sees the election result as a signal to all European
policy makers that the writing is on the wall. Abandoning austerity and
embracing investment into a better future for all European citizens has
been long overdue. The timid Juncker Plan, in spite of all this, is
getting bogged down by tedious and irresponsible tactics of pursuing
narrow lobby interests at the expense of the European common good.

The European
Greens will invest all we have into turning around our European Union in
the interests of citizens. We want to cooperate with the Greek government and any other partner towards turning anger about the status
quo into hope for a better future.

We believe that these
elections can help change the EU’s direction and avoid further division
amongst Europeans – our role as European Greens is to elevate this
debate, not only at a national, but also at the EU level.